thereader1991

Every once in awhile, I pick up a book not expecting much from the story and end up being suprised to add a new great book to my favorite books bookcase. This was the case in A Place Called Blessing.

THe main character, Josh, has had an extremely hard life. Orphaned at a young age, he must track through the U.S. foster system, which he finds to be an unstable place. As a foster child, he is by no means perfect and makes many mistakes including one that he comes to regret for years to come and that removes him from the closest place he’s ever thought of as home. As a result, his self-esteem is shot. He thinks he’s not deserving of love and finds it hard to trust anyone.

When he turns 18, he enters the real world and gets a job working construction. But he soon finds a home and his past mistake is brought back up.

I don’t want to give away the story because I hope that if you are reading this you will pick up this book and find out for yourself how great this story is. This book is simply written, but it brings out so many emotions. I am glad that I stumbled upon this book and I hope that others will experience the story as I did.

For the most part, I really enjoy reading classic novels that challenge me intelluctually and make me think. But there comes times when I need a break, not just in the sense of relaxing, but also in the sense that I need to read an easy book that is still interesting. Dating Mr. December is just that. It’s a novel that holds your attention, but it doesn’t challenge you or suprise you. It is a simple love story where everything works out in the end.

The main character’s name is Emma. She has had a hard break up that results in her losing her job so she moves from London to the countryside where she meets Will, who she thinks is just another player trying to get in her pants. But as every love story turns out, Will is really a nice guy and they fall in love cue happy music.

Like I said at the beginning, this book doesn’t hold any suprises, but I still would suggest reading it to de-stress. So grab Dating Mr. December, find a pool and relax as you enter this love story.

I got this book ree on my Kindle on Amazon so I thought I would give it a try. I now know why it’s free…because it’s not so good.

The book is about a guy named Edward who is left by his girl-friend of 10 years because he has let himself go. His ex-girlfriend packs up her stuff from their apartment and goes on vacation for a couple months. Edward decides to essentially give himself a make over by losing weight, quit smoking, by a new car, get a new wardrobe, get contacts, whitten his teeth, etc. At the end he decides to suprise her at the airport and make up with her. Well, just like the clique story goes when a person gives himself a makeover to win back their lover, Edward decides that he’s a new person now and his ex-girlfriend doesn’t deserve him, then he goes and kisses his trainer.

Honestly it was a major disappointment. Edward is an annoying character because he is so lazy and his best friend forces him to make all these changes. He whines and is a little bit too obsessive with his ex-girlfriend.

Basically I’m just telling you not to read this book. I like my books to teach me something or make me feel something and the Ex-Boyfriend’s Handbook didn’t do any of this for me.

I always have truly believed that the book version is always better than the movie version, until I read the Devil Wear Prada. Now I understand that bad books can become great movies.

To be exact though, I did see The Devil Wears Prada in theatres way before I read the book, so their may lie some error in my judgement.

The Devil Wears Prada is a funny book that includes that ultimate crazy and ridiculous boss ever seen. I did enjoy reading the ridiculous things Miranda would have Andi do day by day like ordering lunch and being upset when her lunch wasn’t before her in the next five minutes. But there was not much growth in Andi really. She did realize that friends and family are more important than an insane job, but things were left up in the air. Does she reunite with her boyfriend and where does her career go in the end? I understand that maybe we, the reader, are supposed to imagine these things in our heads, but I’m not reading a book to imagine for myself, I want the author to show me where the characters lives go. I’m not asking for a ten year detailed description, but I do want to see more.

The Devil Wears Prada is a decent book, but it had no impact on me or my life and I can suspect that ten years from now I will have forgotten most of the plot.

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The Waiting Place is a book that will refresh your soul and give you hope in whatever circumstance you find yourself in. This book addresses the fact that we all find ourselves waiting at all times in our life, and we almost all of us find discomfort in waiting. Eileen Button writes about personal waiting times she has experienced throughout her entire life and how she has managed to appreciate these times.

Button writes, “While waiting to grow up, we forget to embrace our childhoods. While waiting to lose weight, we fail to enjoy the youthfulness of our bodies. While waiting for true love, we forget to relish our freedom. (Or worse, we settle for second best.) While waiting to nurture and enjoy the love and freedom of a childless marriage. While waiting for our children to grow, we forget to notice their beauty as infants, toddlers, children and teens. We fail to burn the memory of them into our souls. While waiting for a loved one to get well (or to die), we fail to appreciate–even those filled with sickness and medications–we have with one another.”

This books shows us the beauty that waiting brings, and to appreciate what we have now instead of waiting for what we think will be better in the future.

I found myself rethinking my life as I read this book in a short sitting. I am waiting for love, to graduate, for real life to begin among other things. I sometimes find myself wishing away the present for the future which I am sure will bring better times. But the best times can only happen right now and maybe I need to enjoy my youth and independence because it is only a while until I will wish back the time I have now. I can’t get back what is past and by continually waiting and not appreciating my present, I am not living as I could be. Waiting is apart of living.

This book also shows Button’s tremendous faith that was tested many times through health issues of her youngest son and trials faced with marriage and her career. In the midst of hard times, Button clings to her faith in God which is inspiring to anyone who reads her tale.

The Waiting Place is an excellent read for anyone because it causes us to reexamine our life and to begin appreciate present times even though we may find ourselves waiting for things to happen.

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Tuesdays with Morrie is a short easy read that is at the same time powerful and emotional. This book takes on dealing with death. In this society, death is avoided until it is absolutely necessary for us to deal with it.

In my life I have seen a lot of tragic deaths happen. I have been lucky not to have anyone close with me die, but I have seen friends die and close friends deal with tragic deaths.

Death has scared me because of it is always so close and can hit when least expected.

Tuesdays with Morrie introduces us to a character who though is terminally ill, does not fear death. Morrie, instead, embraces death and ends up living more than most people ever get the chance to do.

I learned so much from this small book because it contains so many lessons for life. Death does not seem as daunting as it once did.

I would recommend this book to all because death will eventually hit us all and this book makes it easier to understand death.

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Hi! I’m Sarah. I’m in college and dream of some day becoming a book critic, but today I thought why wait for this dream to someday happen? Why not start criticing books now? So that’s what I’m going to be doing. I read a lot of books for classes and for just for fun. I will try to write a blog at least every week and give a short summary of the book and then my personal opinion of it. H